Meeting Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received, noted and accepted from Cllrs Read, Sumner, and Todd.

None.

None.

Resolved: that the minutes of the Council meeting held on 17 January 2022 be duly signed by the Chairman of the meeting as a true and accurate record of the meeting; pages 9661-9667

County Councillor McArthur provided an update on the secondary school places offered – as of 1 March there had been 20k applications, of these 850 did not get their first or second choice, but there would be a second stage review for further allocations.

The Bus Consultation (agenda item 14) would affect the E1 GO Bus service in the town, and she urged people to respond to the consultation

Cllr McArthur (Portfolio holder for Cleaner and Greener) was pleased to report that the Dunbrik depot was receiving a refurbishment. Also, all waste collections routes were being reviewed to see if there were any efficiencies that could be made. Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) was undertaking a Movement Strategy looking at how to reduce the carbon footprint with encouraging people to use buses, link up to cycle ways and other means.

Cllr McGregor mentioned the emerging Local Plan was progressing, and the Council Tax increase for SDC was just under £5 for a band D property. He had attended the Development Control Committee (DCC) which had considered the Working Men’s application; the Town Council’s Planning Committee had not supported this application, but DCC had granted it. He had also called-in for DCC consideration the application for 11 Ridgeway. The Four Elms application (20/02988/OUT) for outline planning for 340 dwellings was going back to DCC on 21 March.

Cllr Layland said he would be sitting in on the DCC meeting on 21 March. He also mentioned that he sits on the SDC Scrutiny Committee which looks at how SDC manages its business. A working group was currently looking at the period during the Covid-19 pandemic, and a report detailing the outcomes would be published.

Resolved: the minutes of the meetings and numbered – 13 January (9671-9674); 7 February (9675-9676); 28 February (9683-9685) be adopted.

Resolved: the minutes of the meeting and numbered – 24 January (9668-9670) to be adopted.

Resolved: the minutes of the meeting and numbered – 14 February (9677-9682) to be adopted.

Resolved: the minutes of the meeting and numbered – 28 February (9677-9682) to be adopted.

Resolved: the minutes of the meeting and numbered – 2 March (9690-9691) to be adopted.

The Town Clerk’s report was noted: As of 24 February, the guidelines had removed the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test but advise to stay at home if you can and avoid contact with other people. The employer maintains a duty of care to its staff and volunteers to protect the health and safety of their workforce. For information, the Council had lost a minimum of 38 workdays since April 2021 to Covid; although office staff have been able to work from home if they had been well enough or self-isolating

Received and noted. On 9 March, SDC’s ‘Make it Happen’ Awards ceremony took place recognising some of the unsung heroes in our communities. The Council had submitted eight nominations including Edenbridge Community Volunteers which was one of three winners in the category for ’Volunteer Group of the Year’. This award was recognition for the past two years of the pandemic and the amazing collective response of local groups, neighbours who looked out for one another, and the 80 volunteers under the Care for Our Community who helped residents. Attending the event representing the Care for Our Community volunteers was John Nichol. Rose Briggs (Community Warden) and the litter pickers and bulb planting volunteers picked up the Highly Commended Award for ‘Contribution to the Environment; representing the volunteers was Ben Brownless. Anthony Shipwright was the winner of the ‘Best Youth Group’ for all the work he does with young people at the Eden Christian Trust Club. Other categories and Awards went to: Community Arts: Edenbridge Songsters, Highly Commended Award; Older Person Group was Bridges Highly Commended Award; and Charity Project of the Year: Edenbridge Food Bank.

Resolved: to amend the Standing Orders 3s on recorded votes to read as follows: 3.s. Unless standing orders provide otherwise, procedures for voting will be:

i. voting on a question shall be by a show of hands.

ii. Recorded vote: At the request of a councillor, the voting on any question shall be recorded so as to show whether each councillor present and voting gave his vote for or against that question. Such a request shall be made before moving on to the next item of business on the agenda.

iii. The right for individually named votes to be recorded should be stated at the time of the request for recorded vote, as in standing order 3s ii.

Resolved: to close Lloyds Bank account and move the funds to the Barclays account.

Resolved: to transfer the balance of the CIL funds from the Barclays CIL account to the CIL PSDF account.

Members received the recommendations for agenda items 10.1 and unanimously RESOLVED the staffing budget for 2022/23; and noted that this was likely to exceed budget due to unknown NJC pay award, NI and medical insurances. The budget was to continue to be monitored.

Members received the recommendations for agenda items 10.2 and unanimously, RESOLVED the recruitment for two positions: Market Officer and Communications Officer, both on a one-year contracts.

Noted

Cllr Layland confirmed an order had been placed with a local forge master for the Beacon, and that this would be sited at Stangrove Park as the preferred location. A planning application had been submitted to SDC and currently at the validation process. This would provide a permanent Beacon for Edenbridge and be used as part of the nation’s lighting of Beacons on 2 June, with the first Beacon being lite from Buckingham Palace at 9.45 pm. Residents would be invited to come along to Stangrove Park, to bring a picnic, enjoy music provided by the Town Band, and some other activities would be provided, but the details were currently being worked through. The Bonfire Society was assisting with the actual lighting of the Beacon. The High Street would be decorated in bunting. He added that he would like to thank the Great Stone Bridge Trust for its grant towards this event.

Members unanimously Resolved: the expenditure of up to £3,075 to purchase two new laptops for the new positions – Market Officer and Communications Officer to enable homeworking

Feedback reported in the Town Clerk’s report was noted: The event was not as well attended as previous years (27), possibly because of Covid-19 and it was chilly out, but maybe there wasn’t anything contentious currently. Feedback had been positive. Members noted that the event had been well published but agreed a banner on the Stangrove railings for future years. Members also discussed possibly changing the date from first Monday in March to later in the year but noted that the Meeting legally had to be held between 1 March and 1 June, and in election years to be mindful of the purdah period which typically begins six weeks before an election. Members agreed to consider this further at a future meeting.

Members noted the above consultation

Members noted the above consultation

Members noted the above consultation

Members noted the above consultation

Members noted the above consultation

Members noted the above consultation

Cllr Layland, as a trustee of the Eden Valley Museum had attended a number of meetings which included receiving a recommendation of appointment for the new treasurer. The Museum finances were stable, and it had also been considering its membership fees structure. Cllr Lloyd had attended a CPRE meeting and would circulate the minutes.

Cllr McGregor reported the Edenbridge Twinning Association had its annual trip to Mont St Aignan weekend of 29 April, with the reciprocal visit 10 and 11 September 2022.

Cllr McArthur had attended a Railways meeting which had been considering reopening disused lines. 

Kent County Council Bus Funding Reduction.

To review the scheduling of the Annual Town Meeting

Rural England had recently presented the results from the housing survey carried out at the end of 2021 to Members. At that presentation, there had been some discussion about the affordable homes’ allocation at the Four Elms site, although the application was currently awaiting a decision on the outline planning application. Rural England were asking if the Town Council wished to formally request local lettings for the Four Elms site, based on the needs identified in the survey or if it preferred to wait to see what happens with the application before considering any rural exceptions sites?

Members agreed unanimously that it would wait for a planning decision on the current outline planning application, before considering further.

9 May Annual Meeting of the Town Council